


Where Pennies Drown

by voleuse



Category: Battlestar Galactica
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-24
Updated: 2007-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-04 03:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>To get persimmons from the graveyard keeper; eat them on the city bus stained with fruit</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Pennies Drown

**Author's Note:**

> Set between 2.15 and 2.16. Title and summary adapted from Erin Martin's _Ante_.

Maybe this was the idea that haunted Lee the most: _What if she didn't remember it happened?_

*

 

He let days pass, and days pass, and Kara didn't look at him. Or, she looked at him, but she was always Starbuck, always his pilot and never his friend. Any other time, he wouldn't have minded, but he needed to know they were okay. He needed her façade to crack, just a little, so he could see if she was done with him, or if he had broken something he hadn't known was really there.

And whenever he let his eyes close for a moment too long, he slipped back to the barracks, to the heat of her mouth, her skin against his palms, that moan she made when he bit her ear just _so_.

Lee discovered there was nothing more inconvenient than getting a hard-on in the middle of a CIC briefing.

*

 

So he did the one thing he shouldn't do, and paged Starbuck to his office over comms. He would have felt guilty about it, except he couldn't concentrate, and he couldn't stop imagining she was sending him signals through pilot rosters and flight formations.

She entered his office with a strut and a smile, and when she pulled the hatch shut, he was helpless against the twist of her hips.

When she turned back to face him, he could practically see her debate which name, which title she should use to address him. "Apollo," she finally said.

"Starbuck." Lee leaned back in his chair and relaxed. "I'd kill for a drink, wouldn't you?"

And he watched her debate that, too, and give in to the camaraderie her greeting had implied.

He poured the first round, and let the years fall away.

*

 

An hour passed, and then two, and Kara was a minute away from tipping backward in her chair.

Lee reached over the desk, and their fingers grappled for a second before he wrested the glass from her hand. "I think that's enough for tonight," he announced.

"Aw." Kara leaned forward, the front legs of her chair thudding against the floor. "Still a lightweight, I see."

He laughed. "Not much has changed since the last time we--"

"Right."

Lee caught his breath, and watched her eyes widen. He watched her remember, and he watched her shake it away.

"Lee," she said, and her voice was all apologies.

He cleared his throat. "Kara, you don't have to--"

"We're friends," she continued. "I don't know what I'd do if we weren't."

Lee sat back. "Yeah." He nodded, and nodded again. "Me, too."

Kara stood up and walked around the desk. She extended her hand, and when he took hold, she pulled him up, into a hug.

"Me, too," he repeated, his chin bumping against her shoulder. He felt her fingers dig into his spine, for just a second, and then she pulled away.

"I've got an early briefing," she said, rolling her eyes.

He smiled. "Get some sleep."

And Kara saluted, half-mocking, and walked away.

*

 

Maybe it wasn't the answer he had wanted, but it was more than he expected.

Maybe he didn't mind.


End file.
